My late Summer Spanish road trip started on September 1st in Barcelona. The weather was pretty hot ranging from 37C - 42C during day time, and it got slightly cooler later in the day. I spent one night only in Barcelona, and barely can enjoy anything due to exhaustion and severe jet-lag from 36 hours flight long haul from Jakarta via Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul and Amsterdam.
The real trip was started the day after in Montserrat. Montserrat is a multi-peaked rocky range located near the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Pre-coastal Range . The main peaks are Sant Jeroni (1,236 m), Montgrós (1,120 m) and Miranda de les Agulles (903 m).
It is well known as the site of the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria De Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary and which is identified by some with the location of the Holy Grail in Arthurian Myth.
"Montserrat" literally means "saw ( Serrated, like the common handsaw) mountain" in Catalan. It describes its peculiar aspect with multitude of rock formations which are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock. Montserrat is Spain's first National Park.
Top: Marble sculpture, collection of the museum.
For a museum that was built inside a monastery complex, which nestled almost in a peak of a mountain range, their collection is very impressive in both quality and quantity.
Painting from the 13th to the 18th century, which includes works by Berruguete, El Greco, Caravaggio, Luca Giordano, Tiepolo, etc.; and 19th and 20th century Painting, which boasts one of the finest collections of Catalan painting, including such outstanding names as Fortuny, Rusinol, Casas, Nonell, Mir, Gimeno, Anglada Camarasa, Picasso, Dali, etc. French impressionist arts is also represented in this section, with works by Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pissarro etc., as well as graphic works by many of the greatest contemporary artists: Chagall, Brague, Le Corbusier, Rouault, Miro, Dali, Picasso, Clave, Tapies, etc.
Painting from the 13th to the 18th century, which includes works by Berruguete, El Greco, Caravaggio, Luca Giordano, Tiepolo, etc.; and 19th and 20th century Painting, which boasts one of the finest collections of Catalan painting, including such outstanding names as Fortuny, Rusinol, Casas, Nonell, Mir, Gimeno, Anglada Camarasa, Picasso, Dali, etc. French impressionist arts is also represented in this section, with works by Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pissarro etc., as well as graphic works by many of the greatest contemporary artists: Chagall, Brague, Le Corbusier, Rouault, Miro, Dali, Picasso, Clave, Tapies, etc.
Inner courtyard of Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria De Montserrat.
Playa De Calafell (Segur De Calafell, Catalonia)
Old square of Tarragona.
